Chennai remained cut off from the rest of the state for the second day on Wednesday in athe bsence of road, rail and air traffic. The flooded airport cannot be opened before Sunday, authorities have said. The Rajali naval air station at Arakkonam, 70 km west of Chennai, will now function as a makeshift airport. An Air India test flight from Hyderabad landed there successfully on Wednesday evening, NDTV reported.

“A group in Bangalore is collecting aides, including food supplies, containers, paper cups, plates, rain coats and umbrellas, for the people who are hit by Chennai floods. The group has invited volunteers to pick up aides, which will then be taken to Chennai by one Ram Kashyap.”

Chennai was recovering from last week's heavy downpour and normal life was getting back on track when torrential rainfall, said to be the heaviest in over 100 years, lashed the city on Tuesday, flooding the Tamil Nadu capital and its airport.

The torrential rain also wreaked havoc on Tiruvallur, Kancheepuram and Cuddalore.

Several people were stuck in Chennai airport as all flights were cancelled for the rest of the day on Tuesday due to flooding in the runway.

The Tamil Nadu government said 72,119 people were now housed in relief camps set up in the rain-affected Thiruvallur, Kanchipuram and Chennai districts, according to IANS. The affected people have been housed in 432 relief camps set up in the three districts.

The government said relief measures were being taken on war footing and 329,919 food packets have been distributed to the flood-affected people in these three districts. There was 24 cm rainfall in Thiruvallur district till Wednesday morning, while it was 34 cm in Kanchipuram and 28 cm in Chennai. Breaches in lakes in these districts were being plugged.

Chennai received 49 cm of rain over the last 24 hours. Chembarambakkam, where the reservoir released about 25,000 cusecs of water into Adyar river, received 47 cm of rains. The Saidapet bridge over the Adyar river, which runs through the city, was closed to traffic as water spilled onto the road, NDTV said.

Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa will undertake an aerial survey of the flood-affected areas on Thursday. She had planned to undertake the aerial survey on Wednesday but the plan was postponed due to the inclement weather and because the helicopter could not take off.

LIVE Updates:

4:47 pm: More than 150 people evacuated by ICG, 23 personnel and two officers in four boats engaged in rescue operations

4:22 pm: The rainfall is likely to continue for about a week, but situation critical for the next 48 hours: L S Rathore, IMD DG

4:06 pm: Due to #ChennaiFloods, there will be no charges on BSNL bills for one week in Chennai starting today: RS Prasad, Telecom Minister

3:42 pm: NDRF ready to take off but can't reach affected areas, air drop has to be started for relief material: Sitaram Yechury in RS

3:07 pm: A group in Bangalore is collecting aides, including food supplies, containers, paper cups, plates, rain coats and umbrellas, for the people who are hit by Chennai floods. The group has invited volunteers to pick up aides, which will then be taken to Chennai by one Ram Kashyap.

"I plan to shuttle between ‪#‎Bangalore‬ and ‪#‎Chennai‬ during the next few days on my car with food (Rice and Sambar) in large containers," he wrote in a Facebook post.

The forecast of more showers in the coming days have forced the state authorities to shut down schools and colleges. Bus services were also disrupted and the Southern Railways had to cancel 12 trains, while diverting 15 more.

The state government has postponed the half-yearly examinations of all state board schools. The state board examinations were scheduled to begin on 7 December.

The condition of the roads has also deteriorated as many of them caved in due to heavy rainfall. Puducherry and its suburbs received heavy rainfall since Tuesday night to 8:30 am on Wednesday morning. It recorded 15.2 cm rain in the last 24 hours, PTI reported.

Meanwhile, a flood alert has been issued along the banks of Adyar river as excess water from the Chembarambakkam reservoir have been released in the river, IANS reported.

So far, 188 people have lost their lives in the floods in the four districts of Chennai, Kanchipuram, Cuddalore and Thiruvallur.

As Tamil Nadu braces for more showers in the next four days, Chief Minister Jayalalithaa has instructed that the police, fire and rescue, National and State Disaster Forces and Coast Guard be kept ready in case people from flood-hit regions are required to be evacuated.

"I have ordered officials to take precautionary measures before releasing surplus waters from reservoirs and evacuate people living in low-lying areas," she said.

Chennai Corporation helpline numbers:

Tree fall, Waterlogging

1913

Sewage overflow

45674567, 22200335

State Emergency

1070

District Emergency

1077

Electricity

1912

Fire & Rescue -

101

Tiruvottiyur – 9445190001

Manali – 9445190002

Madhavaram – 9445190003

Tondiarpet – 9445190004

Royapuram – 9445190005

Thiru Vi Ka Nagar – 9445190006

Ambattur – 9445190007

Annanagar – 9445190008

Teynampet – 9445190009

Kodambakkam – 9445190010

Valasaravakkam – 9445190011

Alandur – 9445190012

Adyar – 9445190013

Perungudi – 9445190014

Sholinganallur – 9445190015

Those who need rescue please call these numbers 04427237107/ 04425394240/ 9840295100 these are the army / navy helplines #ChennaiRainsHelp